A sign in Union Beach expresses the sentiments of people weary of curiosity seekers coming through their neighborhood and taking photos. / Kevin Penton/staff photo

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Nearly every day, Joanna Harley returns to her destroyed home in Union Beach for moments at a time, picking through the rubble in search of pieces of her life.

It usually doesn’t take long for someone to stand across the street with a camera, taking photographs of her home’s destruction.

“These people have no dignity, no sense of compassion,” said Harley, as a steady stream of vehicles cruised slowly along hard-hit Front Street, their occupants staring at the destruction. “Do I have to stand here and be some sort of tourist attraction?”

In the days and weeks after superstorm Sandy, those from outside the region have inundated communities ravaged by the storm. Some are emergency or utility personnel from out of state, backing up their local brethren. Many are volunteers willing to help with relief and recovery efforts. Others are simply gawkers.

“I understand the urge to rubberneck when you see an accident on the highway,” said Jon Zois, who lived across the street from Harley and lost half his home. “These people don’t understand that my house is the body. And I’m still here.”

Earlier this week, a couple simply wandered onto a Union Beach property where a house is shattered to the ground. They took turns taking pictures of each other in front of the rubble, smiling, before police arrived and ordered them off the property.

Sea Bright Police Chief John Sorrentino said motorists gawking at Sandy’s aftermath routinely slow down traffic along Route 36, the only major road in town.

“That’s human nature, I guess, I can’t think of any other good reason why people would do this,” Sorrentino said. “We haven’t gotten reports of them really bothering anybody, though.”

In the days immediately following superstorm Sandy, Capt. Ken Namowitz, owner of the charter boat Mimi VI in Point Pleasant Beach, was not fishing.

His boat, however, was operational, so he came up with an alternative. He spray painted an advertisement on a sign and put it out on the street in front of where his boat docks, offering tours of the battered New Jersey coastline.

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“We took people from the Manasquan Inlet down to the Seaside pier and back,” said Namowitz. “It was just after it happened, so there was a lot to see. Nothing was fixed yet.”

The fare was $20 a person, with a portion donated to emergency responders.

Namowitz said he motored people past disaster scenes, such as where the ocean broke through in Mantoloking, creating an inlet, or where the roller coaster ended up in the ocean off Seaside Heights.

“We slowed down and stopped the boat at all the hard hit spots and everybody was oohing and aahing,” Namowitz said.

The tours lasted two hours. He ran a total of four trips, carrying between 10 to 12 passengers on each.

“It worked for awhile. I thought we might be on to something,” Namowitz said. “But we didn’t make much money doing it. We just covered our expenses.”

Down the road from Harley’s home, someone put up a sign with red tape crossing out the words “Camera Zombies,” adding on the bottom: “People lived here.”

Harley said he wishes the gawkers would offer to help instead. On Thursday, she yelled at a man to stop taking pictures. He walked away, his head down.

“I feel like my whole life is exposed,” said Harley not long after the altercation, her eyes watery. “It’s hurtful.”